INQUIRER Sports

MANILA, Philippines—Grandmaster Wesley So will face lower-ranked GM Gadir Guseinov of Azerbaijan, but fellow Filipino bets GMs Rogelio “Joey” Antonio and Darwin Laylo will have to contend with touted foes in the first round of the World Chess Cup starting Nov. 20 in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia.

Antonio tangles with defending champion GM Gata Kamsky of the United States while Laylo takes on No. 21 seed GM David Navara of the Czech Republic in the 64-match opener of the biennial event.

The 15-year-old So, the highest-rated Filipino player with an ELO of 2640, is seeded 59th in the 128-player event while Guseinov, 23, is seeded 70th with his ELO of 2625.

Toting an ELO of 2574, Antonio will be the underdog against Kamsky, who topped the 2007 edition at the expense of Spanish GM Alexei Shirov.

Kamsky reached a peak rating of 2746 and is the top board player for the United States with an ELO of 2695.

Laylo (ELO 2552), who earned his second straight trip to the World Cup by ruling the Asian Zone 3.3 championship in Vietnam this year, is likewise the underdog against Navara, 24, who boasts an ELO of 2707.

Top seed GM Boris Gelfand of Israel opens his bid against International Master Andrei Obodchuk of Russia in the knockout matches organized by the World Chess Federation.

The players, most of whom advanced through worldwide qualifiers, will play two games each on Nov. 20 and 21 with the winner gaining the second round on Nov. 24. Tie-breaks, if necessary, will be played on Nov. 23.